Miami head coach Jim Larranaga gives a thumbs-up to his team during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against North Carolina in the championship of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C., Sunday, March 17, 2013. Miami won 87-77. (AP Photo/Bob Leverone)— AP

Miami head coach Jim Larranaga gives a thumbs-up to his team during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against North Carolina in the championship of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C., Sunday, March 17, 2013. Miami won 87-77. (AP Photo/Bob Leverone)
/ AP

Miami head coach Jim Larranaga holds the trophy after an NCAA college basketball game against North Carolina in the championship of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C., Sunday, March 17, 2013. Miami won 87-77. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)— AP

Miami head coach Jim Larranaga holds the trophy after an NCAA college basketball game against North Carolina in the championship of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C., Sunday, March 17, 2013. Miami won 87-77. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
/ AP

Miami head coach Jim Larranaga cheers after cutting the final strand of the net following their 87-77 win over North Carolina in an NCAA college basketball game for the championship in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C., Sunday March 17, 2013. (AP Photo/The Times-News, Scott Muthersbaugh)— AP

Miami head coach Jim Larranaga cheers after cutting the final strand of the net following their 87-77 win over North Carolina in an NCAA college basketball game for the championship in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C., Sunday March 17, 2013. (AP Photo/The Times-News, Scott Muthersbaugh)
/ AP

CORAL GABLES, Fla. 
Jim Larranaga was in the Miami locker room before a game during this regular season, talking about the importance of defense, when he decided words were not going to be enough to illustrate his point.

So the 63-year-old, two-time-hip-replacement-patient, white-haired, suit-wearing man fell backward like he was taking a charge, then started shouting.

"When you see that," said senior guard Durand Scott, "you want to run through a wall for this guy."

The wall had no chance. Larranaga's team went out, fully energized, and beat North Carolina by 26.

Larranaga has taken charge of what not long ago looked like a wayward Hurricane program - leading Miami to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship, a 27-6 record, a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament and quite possibly putting a school that hadn't been to the men's version of the Big Dance since 2008 in position to win a national title.

Miami plays Pacific (22-12) in Austin, Texas on Friday. So on Monday, other than consenting to about a dozen media interviews, Larranaga tried to rest.

"We've got to turn the page," Larranaga said Monday. "When non-conference season was over, we turned the page. Regular season over, turn the page. ACC tournament is over, turn the page. One does not have anything to do with the next. They're all separate events and we need our guys to get some rest, because it was a long, grueling tournament."

Larranaga and the Hurricanes made getting out of that ACC tournament look easy.

Not bad for a guy who, when he decided to pursue the Miami job two years ago, was absolutely convinced he had zero chance of being hired.

"He's a great teacher," Miami President Donna Shalala told The Associated Press. "When you get right down to it, in higher education, there are a handful of really great teachers. Sometimes they're in chemistry, sometimes they're in English, and sometimes they're the basketball coach.

"When we heard he wanted the job, I thought this was an opportunity of a lifetime for the University of Miami."

She might have been right.

At a time when the athletic department has been rocked by a scandal involving a former booster who prompted a long and still-unresolved NCAA investigation - over things that occurred long before Larranaga arrived - this men's basketball season has clearly been a ray of light in Coral Gables. The Hurricanes' arena was sold out for many games, bringing Shalala to tears at least once. A pair of ACC titles will be commemorated by banners. The team seems to be an in-vogue pick to win it all.

And whether he wants it or not, Larranaga - a likely national coach of the year candidate - is getting much of the credit.

That's why, when the bus carrying the ACC champions arrived back on campus Sunday night, outside the on-campus arena and practice facility that Miami built a few years apart, Larranaga was the first to exit and start giving hundreds of high-fives to delirious, screaming fans. Players waited about a minute before joining the celebration.